Always the First Saturday in December
The Canton Optimist Club has been hosting the Canton Optimist Christmas Parade for the City of Canton since 1988. The Optimist men and women are all volunteers. The parade is always scheduled for the first Saturday in December. This year is December 5. Parade begins at 6PM with line up from 3:30 to 4:30. Due to Covid-19 and Social Distancing necessity, we encourage viewers to spread out along the entire parade route which includes the entire Canton Square.
The main purpose of Optimist Clubs is to serve the youth in their communities. During the Christmas season we help other organizations in the Canton area to ensure that kids have a better Christmas. We believe that our entrants in the parade share that same Christmas Spirit and will want to help us help kids. This year is the first year we are having an entry fee for the parade entrants to be used solely for the purpose of helping kids. 100% of the entry fees will go toward serving children in our community.
We have partnered with Tim Cavender (Ball Ground Parade) and will have collection boxes set up around Cannon Park and Brown Park to collect toys for the Toys for Tots Program. Please bring a new unwrapped toy to contribute!!
Music Fest & Market Place begin @ Noon
Christmas Market Place and MusicFest
On the first Saturday in December each year, the Canton Optimist Club invites you to participate in the Christmas Market Place. There will be a limited number of vendor spaces available for vendors to set up at Brown Park during the festivities. If you are interested in a Market Place Booth, please contact
As part of our Christmas Celebration there will be live music with performances from a variety of entertainers in Brown Park. This begins at noon and goes until 6:00 p.m. when the parade will begin.
Santa will be VIRTUAL in Brown Park from 3pm - 5pm. Come show your support to our local community by being a part of the Canton Optimist Annual Christmas Parade, along with The Service League Market Place and Music Festival.
Come show your support to our local community by being a part of the Canton Optimist Annual Christmas Parade, along with The Service League Market Place and Music Festival.
If your group would like to participate in Music Festival, please email
The Christmas Parade will begin @ 6:00 p.m
The Canton Optimist Club invites you and your organization to help kick-off the 2020 Christmas Season by participating in the Canton Optimist Annual Christmas Parade the first Saturday in December at 6:00 p.m. Due to Covid-19 and Social Distancing necessity, we encourage viewers to spread out along the entire parade route which includes the entire Canton Square.
Your involvement as a participant will greatly impact the success of this parade. Remember this parade is for all the kids of Cherokee County both young and old.
All types of groups are needed and welcomed: Bands, Floats, Marching Units, Beauty Queens, Public Officials, Antique Cars, Fire Trucks, Rescue Vehicles, Law Enforcement Agencies, Civic Organizations, Horses, Funny Cars, Petting Zoo/Farm Animals, Etc. (If you bring farm animals, please bring equipment to clean up behind them).
Line up for the Parade will take place between 4:30 AND 5:30. Please have your entry/group there as close to 4:00 as possible.
PLEASE DO NOT SHOW UP BEFORE 4PM!!
Registering will be a two step process. First you complete the entry form. When the form is submitted, you will see a link to click in order to submit your payment online via PayPal. You may use a credit or debit card if you do not have a PayPal account.
The Fee is set by the number of Motorized Vehicles in your parade entry.
$25 for 0-1 vehicle. $40 for 2-3 vehicles. $50 for 4 or more vehicles.
Thank you for helping us help the kids and we look to have the best parade we’ve ever put on!
CLICK HERE FOR PARADE ENTRY FORM REGISTRATION
